The Revenge Job
by poetic heart 75
Summary: Revenge is best served up cold. The team meet a mother and daughter out for justice against the medical insurance company.
1. Chapter 1

Fandom: Leverage

Genre: Hetro

Rating: PG-13. Some language

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I'm just a fan of the show.

Summary: Revenge is best served Cold,

The Revenge Job

She stood outside the pub doors. She thought a pub might be a strange place for a business meeting, but it didn't really matter. She needed help. She'd let those people at Talbert Medical screw her for the last time. This was her mother's life they were playing with and she wasn't going to take any more of their crap.

Marian Wallace is a mild mannered, bank teller from Boston who is taking care of her elderly mother, Esther. Esther was recently diagnosed as a diabetic and Marian was trying to get her medical insurance to cover treatment for her mother. So far all she was receiving was the run around. She'd ask questions and they'd give her a round about answer that had nothing to do with what she was going through with her mother. Then they would give her mother random medication and change it at the drop of a hat. Certain medications were not that easy to take her off of and weren't supposed to be stopped once she started taking them. It also didn't make sense the way they would go through doctors like most girls go through a change of clothes.

Marian walked into the pub and looked around. She was meeting a gentleman by the name of Nathan Ford there. He claimed to be the head of a team that could get the insurance company to treat her mother and get her a little piece of mind as well. She had been so grateful to finally have someone on her side and willing to hear her story that she had forgot to actually question the situation to herself. Why was this man so willing to help her out? Surely there was some catch to this and his "help" was sure to cost her a pretty penny. Nothing in her life was ever free. What kind of a professional held business meetings in the middle of a pub in Boston anyway? That had to be some sort of red flag that was warning her. She hadn't even heard his side of the deal yet. She only knew he wanted to help and she needed someone. All her avenues had been exhausted and her finances were dwindling quickly. She hoped Nathan would understand she wasn't a rich woman.

Across the pub, sitting at a small table sat a good-looking gentleman in his late 40's to early 50's. He was dressed casual and drank a cup of coffee. He seemed to be waiting on someone. She assumed this must be Nathan and he must be waiting for her. Suddenly, she cared about what she looked like and made a side trip to the ladies room to "fix her face" and make sure her hair was in place. She looked herself over and decided she looked good enough and headed out of the bathroom.

Nathan looked up from his cup of coffee to scan the room for his client one more time. He noticed a good-looking, tall red head walking his direction and assumed that must be Marian. He'd been waiting a little over 15 minutes for her and she looked like she'd just got off work.

Marian: "Hi. I'm Marian. You must be Nathan."

She extends her hand to him and greets him with a smile. He shakes her hand.

Nathan: "Yes I am. Please, have a seat. How's your mother doing?"

She sits down at the table and makes herself comfortable in the chair.

Marian: "She's doing well today. It changes from moment to moment. My sister is with her right now."

Nathan: "That's good to hear. So, tell me about Talbort Medical."

Marian: "Well, it's like I started to say on the phone. My mother, Esther is an elderly lady. She's in her 60's and she's recently been diagnosed as a diabetic. When she first started going to see her doctor, she was seeing a Dr. Luster. This woman was her doctor for about 6 months. My mother didn't like her bedside manner. This doctor wouldn't even touch her at appointments. She basically would sit behind a computer and talk "at" my mother. Well, my mother is a very strong minded person. She knew something wasn't right with this and went to Talbort Medical.

Basically, this is the Insurance Group that covers her insurance and her prescriptions. You go to them to choose your Primary Care doctor. Does that make sense?"

Nathan: "I'm following you."

He takes a drink from his coffee and orders Marian a drink as well.

Marian: "OK. So, for 6 months she dealt with this woman who had no clue what she was doing. She prescribed her some medication and my mother followed the recommendation. She trusted her up until she was hospitalized. We both went to Talbort Medical and told them we had problems with Dr. Luster. She never really looked at my mother and she never really paid attention when my mother would voice concerns about her own health. She acted like she knew better then my mom and she was the doctor and what she said went and what my mom said was nothing. It was almost like she felt like my mom was questioning her professionalism when she would tell her something was wrong with her."

She paused to take a drink of her water.

Nathan: "This sounds like a familiar story."

Marian: "So, we went to the board at Talbort Medical and we asked that my mother's doctor be changed. They said it would take up to 6 months to change her doctor and my mom said she wasn't going to put up with this another 6 months. The 6 months she had was long enough and she refused to go to her any longer. She wanted a new doctor. Needless to say, my mom got sick and was hospitalized because of the poor treatment she got the first 6 months. They sent her to a hospital that was a good hospital, but of course, the doctor that treated her at the hospital said she should've taken better care of herself. She told the doctor that she was given a quack that pushed pills for 6 months and she had better luck taking care of herself.

To make a long story short, Talbort Medical is making it impossible for my mother to get proper treatment for her diabetes and it is costing us more money then they are worth. We've tried to change companies and nobody wants to take on my mother's health risks. My mother has to have a doctor to keep her diabetes in check and she has to have medication for it. Basically, we have nothing more to give these greedy bastards. I want someone to pay for the suffering they've put my mother and me both through. If they had given her proper medical attention the first time she went in with a problem, none of this would have happened. She never would've been hospitalized and she'd still be in good health today. I came to you because you said you could help me."

Nathan: "I can help you and your mother. I promise you someone will pay for your mother's pain and suffering."

Marian: "Thank you so much. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to finally be on my side."

Nathan: "I know what it's like to have someone you love suffer at the hands of incompetent doctors and insurance companies."

Marian: "I am so relieved that you can help."

They exchange information and Marian leaves the pub. Nathan goes upstairs to meet with the team.


	2. Chapter 2

They exchange information and Marian leaves the pub. Nathan goes upstairs to meet with the team. He comes into the apartment and Eliot is cooking in the kitchen. Hardison is working on something on his computer. Parker and Sophie are out.

Nathan: "Hey guys."

Hardison: "Oh hey Nate. The girls just stepped out for a few. They'll be back shortly."

Nathan: "Good. I have a case for us."

He preps Hardison for the briefing while they wait for Sophie and Parker to return. About 15 minutes go by and they come back carrying groceries.

Sophie: "I got the stuff you wanted for that Chicken Parmesan your making."

She sets her bag on the empty counter and Parker sets hers on the other counter.

Eliot: "Thanks. I really appreciate you two going out to the store for me."

Parker: "It's not a problem. I like being your gopher girl."

She smiles at him and goes and sits on the couch next to Hardison and Nathan.

Parker: "What are you two up to?"

Nathan: "Well, I have a case for us. I was waiting for you two to get here so we could go over it."

Sophie: "Is that the case about the daughter whose mother is sick?"

Nathan: "Yes. Roll it, Hardison."

Hardison hits the little clicker.

Hardison: "Meet Esther and Marian Hobbs. Esther is 66 years old and suffers from diabetes. Marian has been taking care of Esther for the past 15 years. Esther has been a healthy lady all of her adult life. She hardly needed an aspirin for headache or anything. Then suddenly, out of the blue Esther was diagnosed with diabetes after an unexplained stroke causing her to go into full diabetes after recovery. The doctors never explained why she had the stroke. The doctors never diagnosed her with diabetes before or even told her she was at risk for it. She was in Dr. Luster's office not 24 hours prior to the stroke. Dr. Luster never saw anything wrong with Esther and she went home as usual. Later, her daughter found her in her bed contorting and her eyes were dilated. She was rushed to the hospital and kept for 3 days."

The slide show changes to Dr. Luster.

Hardison: "Meet Dr. Janeen Luster MD. She's been a licensed medial doctor for 35 years. She graduated head of her class from USC Medical School and has many degrees in medicine. She specializes in Diabetic patients and heart patients. Now, Dr. Luster was assigned as Esther's Primary Care Physician through Talbort Medical Group."

The slide changes to Talbort Medical Group.

Hardison: "Talbort Medical Group is a Primary Physician Care group. They are in charge of assigning doctors and hospitals to patients. The Insurance Company assigns patients to Talbort Medical Group. In this case, Blue Cross assigned Esther's case to Talbort Medical Group and they chose Dr. Luster as the best Primary Care Physician for Esther."

The slide changes to Blue Cross.

Hardison: "Blue Cross is a huge medical insurance network with thousands of patients who are covered through thousands of jobs. Nothing gets approved or denied without someone from Blue Cross seeing it first. They review your case and decide what medical group you go to and who your doctors are depending on what hospital they work at."

Eliot: "Am I the only one getting confused here? How is this our case?"

Nathan: "It's our case because Marian is at the end of her wits and I know a little about the medical insurance people screwing you over for money and getting no positive results."

Parker: "I'm glad we don't have medical insurance. All this doctor stuff is confusing."

Nathan: "So we need to steal a doctor's office."

Sophie: "Put this Dr. Luster out of business before she hurts another innocent family."

Nathan: "Exactly."


End file.
